Berlin, rand live at Old Smithy’s Dizzle an exclusive studio concert tickets
18.10.2022
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Away from our compositions on Peripherie here we come up with a free improvisation published in the POOLcast series
rand merges the pure, acoustic nature of the piano with the twisted world of electronics, often breaking with expectations of normal listening habits. Unpredictably, the two seemingly so different musical and falsely pre-determined spheres can abruptly switch positions. Piano and electronics coexist on an equal level in all areas of the musical process. Rhythm, tonality and dynamics are not reserved for one of the two realms. The apparent boundaries between electronics and piano blur for moments now and then, only to appear tangible again a few moments later. This creates a constant tension that surrounds the recording from beginning to end. So it's worth taking the time to listen actively several times, preferably in different environments and states of mind, alone or together, to feel firsthand what the apparent tension between piano and electronics can trigger.
The very first rand DJ mix ever was aired by ect. radio, Chicago, hosted by m50. read more
12.09.2022
Peripherie review on the American Igloo Magazine, specialist for left-of-center sonic discoveries for more than 20 years read more
rand offers minuscule audio Polaroids where abstract pitter-patter notes glide with highly-tensioned strings vibrating in the most unusually calming tangents.
09.09.2022
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Peripherie Album Is Out Now
Today, a fabulous three years after the first recording sessions at Berlin's Chez Cherie studios, the time has finally come: our album Peripherie now sees the light of the musical world in full bloom!
We, Bogdan and Jan, are very happy and proud to present you this album, which was also created with the help of a whole bunch of great people, artists and supporters! We sincerely thank the fantastic and exuberantly patient Andrea Cichecki for mixing and mastering, Timo for the wonderful graphic design of the album, Shai Levy for the beautiful photos, Cosimo Miorelli • CZM for the fantastic video clip for our track Hoola https://youtu.be/wWNkRc8vMUU and many more for their so positive vibes!
A word of gratitude also goes to the Musikfonds, whose generous support made this elaborate and professional production possible in the first place!
Jan writes: "... I still remember well when I sat in Mallorca in September 2019, shortly after the first studio sessions, still far before Corona, with the first takes on the headphones, and soaked up the first musical impressions of our recordings in the mild light of the Mediterranean late summer. Much later, after several listening sessions, constantly driven by my partner in crime Bogdan to even more critical insatiable listening, we are now reaping the fruits of this long, shared journey. And just as I believe in long-term, time-taking artistic-musical work, these 9 tracks - 7 tracks on vinyl - are all expressions and results of that process, and tell a very personal story of the past three years Bogdan and I have spent together."
Being a musician means for us, today more than ever, to hear something inside, which then, in the best case, is strong enough to penetrate outside, despite all the obstacles that today's musician's life has to deal with! Is music strong enough in character to survive musically in this shark tank of musical diversity in this ever accelerating world?
This requires a delicate balance of self-criticism, strength of character, courage and, of course, a lot of imagination. Bogdan and I have faced these challenges again and again with this album. And? We think we are strong!
We gave ourselves a lot of time to listen and we gave ourselves time to locate, to recognize and then, if necessary, to perpetuate the musical sculptures, textures, melodies or pulsations that emerged in a process-like manner over a longer period of time.
The result are precisely worked out, very individual and character-strong tracks, which carry our very personal signature!
Torsos of post-romantic melodies thus stand for the somewhat lost human being, torn in and out of an environment of near-natural idyllic retreat and dystopian apocalyptic urbanity.
The artwork finally, a detail of a drawing by Jan with the title Anhöhe (hill), fits exactly: our music sounds like these environments, whether the near-natural or the urban and illuminates especially acoustically-musically these supposed and often neglected corners and edges around us. (rand means egde)
The album Peripherie is available as of today on limited vinyl, on CD and digitally on Bandcamp, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube Music etc. as well as on the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
We are happy to present you our first professionally produced videoclip, a wonderful video-painting by Berlin-based illustrator and live-painter Cosimo Miorelli.
"You could ... call it a piano & electronica album; or you could label it an ambient album, or a neo-classical fusion album; perhaps an experimental album or a soft-techno & glitch album; you could even label it a Jazz or an Ether-Jazz album . . . . . . and, in every case, you’d be right!"
"The piano playing reminds me of Raphael Loher (Kali Trio) or Lucca Fries (Hely) with a hint of Nik Bärtsch floating in the background.!
"It certainly represents a new direction in crossover-genre, fluidly Jazz-based experimental sound; with each track a new beginning within the adventure"
20.07.2022
Concert Pianist Jan Gerdes and Minimal Techno Producer Dr.Nojoke Join Forces as “rand” to Release Debut Album Peripherie
We are beyond excited to present you our debut album Peripherie due to be released on September 9th 2022
available as
black vinyl in black poly-lined inner-sleeves with 12" poster insert.
For fans of: Nils Frahm, Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bing & Ruth, Erased Tapes
New Urban and Sensitive Music for Piano and Electronics
rand are renowned pianist Jan Gerdes, who has worked with Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Wolfgang Rihm and Helmut Lachenmann among others, and electronic music producer Frank Bogdanowitz aka Dr.Nojoke, who has been touring worldwide with his experimental, deep minimal techno since 2005. For four years rand have been working on a fusion of the acoustic and electronic sound worlds and now present their debut album Peripherie, nine tracks on CD, seven on vinyl, recorded live with no overdubs in 2019 at Berlin's Chez-Cherie Studios then mixed and mastered by Andrea Cichecki. For the recordings, Jan Gerdes had three pianos at his fingertips. The pieces were created partly through improvisational processes during rehearsals, partly based on piano compositions by Jan Gerdes.
In Peripherie, the atmospheres of the tracks are characterized by zones of musical events away from the conventional limelight, in which diffused things happen, musical elements emulsify, clear things dissolve, are covered up or stand abruptly and harshly next to others. Peripherie focuses on musical edges that blur in a fluid indeterminacy and let sharp lines become a wide ocean; piano and electronics embark on a journey between being free and being lost, between detachment and connection.
rand have released EPs "I" and "II" on Bandcamp, a one-hour music improvisation in the POOLcast series of The POOL Berlin collective and contributed a track to the sampler "I hope this finds you well in these strange times Vol. 4" on the London-based label Nonclassical last year, Peripherie represents the next step on the international stage.
The beautiful artwork on the cover is by Jan Gerdes himself.
![unfocused [formation] includes San Gimignano and Smouldering](assets/images/f/u%20n%20f%20o%20c%20u%20s%20e%20d%20%5Bformation%5D-fe6a0c23.png)
